7 Great Texts To Launch Your Art Career

Let's face it, every summer of your school career you think to yourself "this is the year I better myself, I have all of this free time - I'm going to hit the books" ... And maybe you did - or if you're anything like me, you might have started four new books but only finished one. Back to school reading may sound overwhelming, but if you are a burgeoning artist it might just be the perfect refresher to energize yourself about pursuing a fine art career. As an artist, grad student, and art instructor, these are the top seven texts I recommend to those who hope to build a career in the arts.

Build your art career with these texts:

1. "The Artist's Guide: How To Make A Living Doing What You Love" by Jackie Battenfield

Jackie Battenfield teaches professional practices in the graduate program at Columbia University and for the Creative Capital Foundation. The inspiration for her book came from the common issue where too many talented visual artists feel lost or frustrated professionally because they lack fundamental business skills and the confidence to promote themselves and manage their career. This Guide provides artists with the information, tools, and techniques for developing and sustaining a professional life. It introduces valuable tactics – from planning and assessment to time management and negotiation – which are seldom offered to visual artists in ways that are relevant to their practice.

"My main inspiration was to provide a guide that artists can turn to for advice and mentoring. As a self-employed artist, (painter) for nearly thirty years I have made a living from my studio practice. In my daily life, I encounter the same issues that confront most artists: how to manage my personal life, to create new work, financially support myself, protect, and promote my art. I love my life and feel fortunate to have found a way to make it feasible. Since 1992, I have offered classes and workshops around the down-to-earth issues of building a career and help other artists develop their own sustainable, lifelong art practice."

If you only read one book on building your art career - this is the one I recommend above all! "Everything you need to know (and do) as you pursue your art career." - This is text book is just that, the most comprehensive guide of its kind. It offers helpful advice to artists of every level from art school grads, mid-career artists, professional artists and other creative professionals. This book is the perfect tool to guide artists through the competitive art world and find success in their practice. Heather Darcy Bhandari, a gallery director, and Johnathan Melber, an arts lawyer, walk you through the important business end of being an artist so that you can essentially "act as your own manager and agent." From business basics like inventory and expense sheets to preparing invoices; taking legal precautions like copyright and drafting consignment forms or utilizing social media as a promotional tool - this is the perfect handbook to tackle each important career decision, large or small. Perhaps one of the most unique assets to this text is the combined interviews of nearly one hundred curators, dealers and other arts professionals in cities across the country, offering valuable insights about what they expect from and look for in artists. "The book is full of their interesting anecdotes and advice." Following the advice in this book could easily be the key to success. (Seriously, buy it TODAY.)

3. "Management of Art Galleries" by Magnus Resch

This book offers excellent insight into the art market by analyzing today's leading art galleries. If you are interested exploring careers in the gallery scene, this is a must-read. The author Magnus Resch lectures in cultural entrepreneurship at the University of St Gallen, Switzerland. He studied economics at Harvard University and the London School of Economics. Resch has valuable experience as a former gallery owner and as the founder of the art-collector database, Larry's List, in addition to doctoral studies focused on the art market. Management of Art Galleries is a unique analysis of the global art market today. Resch offers examples and case studies from leading galleries around the world giving great insight into the art scene today.

4. "The Artist's Guide To Grant Writing" by Gigi Rosenberg

Gigi Rosenberg found success in winning grants to support her own writing, in doing so, she discovered that most artists and writers find grant writing and fundraising daunting, and often times less successful. Her desire to teach other artists how to raise money led to her popular workshops, which she’s taught from Seattle to Chicago to New York. These workshops led to The Artist's Guide To Grant Writing. Rosenberg covers every aspect of writing a winning grant application including how to research funding, build a team of support, overcome psychological roadblocks, fundraise strategically, and follow up with funders.

5. "Invitation To The Party: Building Bridges to the Arts, Culture, and Community" by Donna Walker-Kuhne

Invitation To The Party by Donna Walker-Kuhne offers strategies on building community and culture through the arts, including tips on how to:

initiate genuine relationships

demonstrate the value of the arts

respond to communities on their terms

engage in open dialogue

build partnerships with community leaders

empower community ownership of the arts

remain open to feedback

remain alert to unexpected opportunities

identify and create the right point of entry for each audience member

commit to sustaining a long-term process

be gracious hosts

This book is an asset to navigating your way through the art community and learning the tools to becoming a prominent member of the scene.

For visual artists, learning how to sell work in the design market can lead to a successful living as an artist, or they can use the design market as a way to create a secondary source of income. Authors, Dick Harrison and Barney Davey, have extensive backgrounds in selling art, working with designers, gallery experience and advising fine artists on how to make more money and be more profitable. This text is jam-packed with useful information, ideas, and advice that any artist can use to become more successful, particularly by selling their work to interior design professionals.

7. "Art Inc.: The Essential Guide fr Building Your Career as an Artist" by Lisa Congdon

This book differs from others on my recommended reading list by focusing on various art professions open to the visual artist outside of the fine art world. In this practical guide, professional artist Lisa Congdon reveals the many ways you can earn a living by making art through illustration, licensing, fine art sales, print sales, teaching, and beyond.

11 Things You Understand If You Hate Physical Contact

We currently live in a world where EVERYONE LIKES TO TOUCH EACH OTHER. People enjoy hugs, high fives, tapping others on the shoulder, pokes, ect. For someone like you and me (I'm assuming you too since you clicked on this article), this is the WORST thing in the world. Whenever I think of someone touching me (even just a poke) without my permission my reaction is like Sofia Vergara in Modern Family.

I mean, when I take that love languages quiz, physical touch is always on the bottom of my preferences. So I thought to my self, you know I can't be the only person in the world that hates physical touching. So here are 11 things every person who hates physical touch will understand:

1. When people tickle you

I don't care that it's just for fun and jokes; I'm not laughing because I want to, you are literally forcing me to laugh. I hate you, get your greasy hands off of me before I make you get them off of me.

2. When people think they need to tap your shoulder to get your attention

As if simply saying "Hey" followed by my name wasn't enough. I don't need your grubby little fingers touching me. Now I'm annoyed with you before this conversation even started, what do you want?

3. When someone you barely know reaches in for a hug

I don't know who the heck you're thinking you're about to hug because it sure isn't going to be me. Hugs are reserved for people I know well and like, not you. Okay release me now, I am not enjoying this. LET ME GO.

4. When people tell you that you aren't an affectionate person

Are you aware there are ways to show my affection without constantly being all over you like a koala bear? Yes, I'm affectionate, hop off.

5. When someone is in your personal space

We could be best friends, we could be complete strangers. We could be lovers, I could hate your guts. We could be in private, we could be in public. I don't care what the situation is, if you're in my personal space uninvited GET OUT. There is no reason to be so close to me unwarranted.

6. You don't know how to comfort people

When you see an upset loved one, most people think they you should comfort then by pulling them into a long lasting hug. But, that's the kind of things that your nightmares are literally made out of. So, you stand there confused how you should comfort your friend/relative while also not sacrificing your touch moral code.

7. When people say you "look like you could use a hug"

Um no. I never could use one, get off of me. I will let you know when I want one.

8. When you're hugging someone wondering how soon you can release

Please end my suffering.

9. When you arrive at a social gathering and people rush to greet you with hugs

Let's not.

10. When you try to leave a social gathering by just waving to get out of goodbye hugs

Please no one make me hug you.

11. That one person who is allowed to hug you/touch you

This person, typically a significant other or best friend, gets to break all the "no touch" rules and we gladly accept their hugs and cuddles and public displays of affection. But only them, no one can copy them.

1. "Catcher in the Rye" by J.D. Salinger

This classic by J.D. Salinger is a staple for many high school kids. Yet, I believe college students should revisit this novel, as it's a great portrayal of adolescence.

2. "The Great Gatsby" by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Love him or hate him, Jay Gatsby is one of literature's most recognizable characters. "The Great Gatsby" is a tragic story of a man stuck in the past, and a grim warning of the empty happiness money buys.

3. "The Time Machine" by H.G. Wells

H.G. Wells was far beyond his time. His novel, "The Time Machine," explores what would happen if time-travelling could happen. It's both an evocative and frightening tale, full of important philosophical questions.

4. "The Picture of Dorian Gray" by Oscar Wilde

This novel is about the degradation of Dorian Gray, and his descent into depravity. It showcases one of the greatest character declines in literature. By the end, Dorian Gray finds his life to be empty, his hedonistic lifestyle pointless.

5. "Norwegian Wood" by Haruki Murakami

Haruki Murakami is famous for his surreal novels. "Norwegian Wood" follows a college student in Japan, as he navigates life after a tragedy. It's both beautiful yet melancholy. If nothing else, it'll get you listening to the Beatles' Norwegian Wood.

6. "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Bronte

I consider "Jane Eyre" to be one of the first feminist novels. It's a fantastic Gothic novel about an independent and strong woman — Jane Eyre — who meets the mysterious Mr. Rochester. It's more than a romance — it's a commentary on Victorian societal expectations of women, with Jane representing objection to it.

7. "The Book Thief" by Markus Zusak

This novel is a beautiful story about a girl in Nazi Germany. Liesel Meminger knows the importance of books, and uses her knowledge and kindness to save a Jewish refugee. It's a poignant novel that expresses the importance of literature and books.

8. Any Sherlock Holmes mystery by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

If you've watched the Sherlock series with Benedict Cumberbatch, then you should definitely give the novels a go. The mysteries are exciting and intriguing, despite their old age.

9. "Great Expectations" by Charles Dickens

This is one of my absolute favorites novels. It follows a young boy named Pip, who befriends a beggar, meets the depraved Miss Havisham, and falls in love with unattainable Estella. This novel is at once a bildungsroman and a tragedy.

10. "Lolita" by Vladimir Nabokov

This controversial novel by Vladimir Nobokov follows the perspective of Humbert Humbert, a depraved man who falls in love with 12-year-old Lolita. Nobokov showcases his mastery of the English language, while writing a depraved and tragic story following two terrible people.

11. "Pride and Prejudice" by Jane Austen

Perhaps one of the most famous novels of all time, "Pride and Prejudice" stands the test of time by showing how two outwardly opposite and contrary people can come together and form an amazing love. It's about accepting one's flaws and getting to know people beyond surface level.

12. "All Quiet on the Western Front" by Erich Maria Remarque

This is a fantastic novel that depicts the absolute horrors of war, particularly World War I. If this doesn't enlighten you about the realities and horrors of war, then no book will.

Reading is important as it broadens one's horizon. Literature is one of the greatest inventions of mankind.